Sweetwater Donkey Punch!

Hazy goldish amber. Sparse carbonation. Plenty of sweet malt in the aroma and lots of citrusy hops. A little thin on the body. A barley wine more on the malt side. Hop flavor came out more as it warmed. Nice piney, dry American hop finish. Could use a little more punch if you will. Thanks to Dansting for this one.

1 L. bottle shared by Dansting at my Holiday Mini Tasting. Pour is hazy red copper with pretty much no head, just a few soap bubbles that cling around the edge of the glass. Aroma of some caramel biscuit malt with some hoppiness. Taste is big sweet caramel malt, with a thinner body than expected. There is a bunch of citrus fruit hoppiness in the taste as well. Well put together, alcohol is well masked in the flavor. Big thanks to Dan for sharing this one.

Citrusy and floral aroma, cookie dough, bready, wildflower honey. Full mouthfeel. Taste is citrusy, dripping with tangerine. Bitterness is moderate. Nice balancing sweetness. Very enjoyable, hard to believe it is 10%.

Poured was amber color with good head and lacing throughout the beer. Aroma was piney and citrus hops. Flavor was amazing balanced with nice citrus and pine hops with nice caramel malt backbone. Wasn’t over sticky either solid one here.

Courtesy of TheBeerCellar. Yeah You rock! Poured gold with a small off white head. Aroma of hops, malt, and citrus. Good hop character with a nice sweet malt backbone. Orange and lemon flavors also present. Very good.

This barley wine pours a medium orange gold color from a 1 liter bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is caramel, fruity and sweet. A medium to lighter bodied barleywine. The malts are fruity and very sweet. The hops are earthy. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Kind of sweet and malty, with a bunch of hops. Its kind of the in that 2xIPA and Barley wine mix, its not really either one. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is sweet.

NorCal December ’07 - This is one HUGE freakin’ bottle. I mean, for a standard size, it’s huge. That was really the only thing that was big about this whole beer though. A very floral hop nose, with a good dose of juicy fruity instead of bitter citrusy hops, and a nice caramel malt base. Color was medium amber/orange in color with a minimal foamy cap. Mouthfeel was full and round. Flavor had many qualities of an old DIPA, sweet, hoppy but dulled to the point where it almost hides behind the malt. A nice beer, and I have another bottle of it and hopefully it will get a higher score. I do enjoy Sweetwater beers.

This one did not stand out for me. Some nice hops and sweet flavor but also a lot of alcohol. Aroma pretty pungent of molasses and banana and some citrus. Taste had more hops than I expected but not much to round it out.